“Have dinner with me tonight. Mrs. Best told me she’s putting on a spread.”
“Well, I’ve gotta eat, and I don’t see any fast food joints around here.”
“So you’ll have dinner with me by default? Did I push you so far back there that you don’t even want to eat with me?”
From the tone of his voice, she feared she’d hurt his feelings. She turned her head and saw the teasing twinkle in his blue eyes. “I won’t soothe your conscience, mister. You know what you did.”
He shifted his pants slightly at the hips. “Don’t remind me.”
Jada couldn’t help but grin.
They kept the banter light and friendly the rest of the way to the house. Something pricked the back of Jada’s mind, giving her the distinct impression that she was forgetting something. It was hard to think clearly, however, with Ian around.
On the porch, she remembered the fishing gear. “Oh no. We left everything back there. We’ll have to go get it.”
Ian stepped over to a control box that was blended nearly invisibly with the exterior of the house. “Billy? Please clean and stow my gear. It’s down at dock three, in one of the boats.”
Billy’s voice returned crystal clear. “Yes, Sir. I’m on it.”
“There you go,” Ian said. “Billy’s on it.”
“I feel bad. We’re the ones who forgot it.”
“It’s his job, Jada. And weren’t you telling me that I need to give them more to do?”
He opened the front doors then escorted her to the main stairwell. “I’ll leave you here. Take your time cleaning up. Dinner won’t be ready for over an hour still. I’ll come to your room at seven. I’m thinking we should eat in the southeast dining room. What do you think?”
“I think I don’t remember which room that is.”
“Excellent. It will be a surprise then.”
Jada said goodbye and climbed the huge, turning staircase. She was aware of Ian standing below, watching her ascent. His attention made her nervous, but in a good, fluttery way.
She didn’t turn back when she reached the top, heading toward her room and resisting the urge to pop back around the corner of the wide hallway, to peep over the balcony and see if Ian were still there.
Something wouldn’t quit nudging at the edges of her mind. What had she forgotten? She’d thought it was the fishing gear, but that clearly wasn’t the case since the feeling hadn’t gone away. She grimaced as she sought to clear the cobwebs from her memory.
A sing-song humming pulled her from her thoughts. It was coming from one of the rooms down the hallway. She listened harder, and realized it originated from a room ahead, on her left. That was Deb’s office, Jada thought.
The humming was deeper, though remained gentle and soothing, as Jada approached the door. She couldn’t resist peeping inside.
Deb stood behind one of the massage tables, humming pleasantly, an easy, peaceful smile on her face. She clearly was a woman who enjoyed her work. As for Deb’s client, she was stretched out flat on her stomach, thoroughly relaxed and Jada guessed, half-asleep.
Jada might have been embarrassed, intruding on such a scene, and would have tiptoed away quickly before she got caught peeking. She would have done just that, except for one thing—the massage client was Ms. Kitty.
Getting the full body treatment and loving every second of it, Ms. Kitty was lost in full-on bliss. Her legs were stretched out straight in front and behind her, her furry chin resting on the cushion. She wasn’t moving a muscle, not even the tip of her tail twitched, and her ears appeared droopy in complete relaxation.
Jada gaped, then snapped her mouth shut when Deb noticed her in the doorway.
Deb broke off her humming. “Hi there. Would you like to go next?”
“Thanks, but I’ve got to get ready for dinner.”
“Okay, well drop me a text if you change your mind. Massage is good for everyone, even animals, as you can see.” She resumed humming and worked her fingertips delicately down Ms. Kitty’s spine.
Ms. Kitty sighed deeply. Jada realized what had been giving depth to Deb’s humming: Ms. Kitty’s purring. Her purrs were so loud that Jada could clearly hear them from where she stood.
Jada slowly shook her head and couldn’t think of a thing to say, other than warning Deb that Ms. Kitty was anti-social, a character trait which had disappeared on the estate. It hardly mattered that Jada was tongue-tied, since both cat and masseuse had obviously dismissed her.
Jada headed on to her room, excited to call Marina and tell her everything that had happened. Well, most everything. Some things were private, and how it felt to be desired by a sexy billionaire was most certainly private.
A tiny thrill burst through her when she thought about how she’d be dining alone with Ian that night. She could hardly wait.
AT PRECISELY SEVEN O’CLOCK, IAN knocked on her door. Jada took a final glance at herself in the full-length mirror.
“Oh, you look so beautiful,” Elly gushed.
Elly had helped Jada choose her outfit, had done her hair and even tried to do her makeup, though Jada had put her foot down there, not wanting to risk being overdone.
She had to admit that Elly had done a good job with her hair, using sparkling silver, stretchy strands to pull the front of Jada’s hair back, weaving them into an intricate, delicate pattern. The rest of Jada’s hair hung straight and shining down past her shoulder blades, the result of Elly’s deft work with a straightening iron.
Elly had convinced Jada to wear a sleeveless, golden silk sheath dress that snugged her curves and glimmered with her every movement. The hem hit just above Jada’s knees and tickled each time it brushed her skin. A pair of strappy, delicate heels finished the look.
Elly ran over and stood by the door. “Ready?”
Jada turned from the mirror. “Yep.”
Elly flung the door wide, a smile on her pretty face.
Ian stepped into the doorway and addressed Elly. “I’m here to escort Miss Jada to dinner, if you’d be so kind as to call her, Elly.”
Elly covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “She’s standing right there, Sir.”
Ian leaned again
st the door jam with playboy ease, looking devastatingly handsome in a white evening jacket, an open-collared shirt and black pants that hung on him with tailored perfection, straight-line crease and all. He examined Jada. “Well, well, if that isn’t so. And she’s looking positively ravishing, wouldn’t you say, young Elly?”
“Yes, Sir. I would.”
“Did you pick out that dress?”
“Yes, Sir. I did.”
Ian’s grin was playful. “Then remind me to tell Mr. Forest to give you a bonus in your next paycheck. Well done, Elly. Well done, indeed.”
Elly giggled again, and overcome from too much Ian-attention, scampered off into the dressing room mumbling about how she had ironing to finish.
“That Elly’s a treasure,” Ian said. “She even knows the perfect time to leave. That’s not a skill you can learn.”
He stepped into the room and Jada thought for a moment he might try to corner her in her bedroom, push her up against her canopy bed, peel off her dress and tear off her new, lacy lingerie, doing everything to her that he wanted to do on the dock.
But he didn’t do any of that. He held out his arm, instead. “Shall we be off then? I’m sure Mrs. Best is anxious to start over-feeding us.”
Jada was kind of disappointed Ian didn’t toss her on her bedspread and ravish her. She wondered what Marina might have said about it. Marina hadn’t returned Jada’s recent calls, though. Probably busy, investigating.
Jada smiled and accepted Ian’s arm. The muscles of his forearms flexed under her touch. “Let’s not keep Mrs. Best waiting.”
Ian told her the evening’s menu on the way to the dining room on the first floor. They were having six courses, two of which were Ian’s favorites. Jada was pleased everything was familiar and didn’t sound ornate and fancy, though after her delicious lunch, Jada knew that Mrs. Best could make a gourmet event out of the simplest food.
The southeast dining room was one of the smaller rooms on the floor, and had wide French doors that looked down the sweeping south lawn which was glowing in golden browns and reds in the setting sun.